The Aviation Expo China 2011, the oldest and most professional aviation exposition, will be held from Sept. 21 to Sept. 24, and preparations for the expo are nearing completion.

The advanced domestic unmanned helicopter, codenamed Z-5, has been placed in the exposition hall. It will be the first time that the helicopter has been seen by the public at large, who will have access to the exposition this Saturday, the last day of the exposition.

Yesterday afternoon, the foreign exhibitors hurried to make last-ditch final preparations for their booths in the exposition. Meanwhile, domestic exhibitors are more relaxed and their preparations were done faster.

The unmanned Z-5 helicopter, which was developed by the 60th Research Institute of PLA Headquarters of the Central Staff, is a military aircraft and has never been revealed to the public before.

"The advanced Z-5 unmanned helicopter is a perfect air platform because it can hover in the sky," said a technician at the exposition. "It integrates multiple advanced technologies, such as a measurement and control system, navigation technology, sensors, automatic control system as well as image transmission. It can be fixed in a particular point in the sky to do topographic and environmental investigations of a certain area or send out interference to enemy devices. This helicopter not only can be used in military investigations but also will play an important role in civilian fields like earthquake relief and land monitoring."

At the booth of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp., sits a slender white plane with two missiles behind its wings and its head held high. That is the unmanned aircraft codenamed WJ-600 which has drawn great attention among military fans.

According to a staff member, the WJ-600 unmanned aircraft has employed sophisticated technologies in cruise missile control and dynamic systems. It can carry two missiles at the same time. It is a high-speed pilot-less plane integrated with inspection and attack functions, and it can travel at 900 kph. Besides, it can escape from radar detection due to its special stealth appearance and paint-coat.

The Aviation Expo China 2011 is the 14th aviation exposition, which has been held every two years since 1985. The exposition is opened to professional visitors on the first three days from Sept. 21 to Sept. 23 and to the public on the last day, Sept. 24.